Mike Epstein's Home Page

(somewhat ancient photo ... with wife "Bert" at Copper Mountain, Colorado)

I am currently a Research Chemist and the Quality Manager for the Chemical Sciences Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. I was formerly an associate professor of chemistry at Mount Saint Mary's University, where I tought physical science, forensic science, analytical chemistry, astronomy, and instrumental analysis for 12 years. My research interests are chemical archeology focusing primarily on numismatics and philately, forensic analytical methods, automation of instrumentation and environmental issues. I was formerly a scientific advisor in the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory of National Institute of Standards and Technology, where I had various jobs (information officer, computer security, webmaster, system administrator and IT help, technical writing, etc.). I worked for 30 years in the area of atomic and molecular spectroscopy and was primarily involved in analyses leading to the certification of elemental concentrations in almost 200 Standard Reference Materials using AAS, ICP and DCP emission and ICP-MS. I was also an adjunct professor in the Department of Science at Mount Saint Mary's College (1996-97, 1999-2000, 2002-2003), and an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics of Hood College (1998-99) teaching general chemistry, quantitative analysis and instrumental analysis. I received my B.S. in chemistry in 1969 from the University of Maryland, spent two years in the U.S. Army (combat engineer, artillery, truck driver and prison guard!) from 1969 to 1971, and then received my Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Professor Tom O'Haver at the University of Maryland in 1976. I spent a year as a postdoctoral associate for Professor Jim Winefordner at the University of Florida in 1978-79. I have been a member of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy and the American Chemical Society since 1974. My activities in SAS can be found here ... and several years ago I received the SAS Distinguished Service Award. My CV can be found here.

Here are a few non-science articles that I wrote on various topics, most from the early to mid 1990s.

I'm married and have two children. My interests include computers, as well as golf (NIST Golf League Champs a couple of times), ancient and modern coinage, the history and philosophy of science and religion (both good and bad), and the historical aspects of the Holocaust.

One of my favorite web sites:

My philosophy of life is to "dream as if you will live forever, and live as if you will die tomorrow." I think it is best summed up by the following poem, written by a Jewish child and victim of the Holocaust in the ghetto of Terezin during World War II:

From tomorrow on, I shall be sad--
From tomorrow on!
Today I will be gay.

What is the use of sadness--tell me that?--
Because these evil winds begin to blow?
Why should I grieve for tomorrow--today?
Tomorrow may be so good, so sunny,
Tomorrow the sun may shine for us again;
We shall no longer need to be sad.

From tomorrow on, I shall be sad--
From tomorrow on!
Not today; no! today I will be glad.
And every day, no matter how bitter it be,
I will say:
From tomorrow on, I shall be sad,
Not today!

written by Motele in Terezin

From Out of the Whirlwind by Albert H. Friedlander
Schocken Books, NY, 1976
Holocaust Memorial
Dedicated to the 6,000,000

Contact information: sciguy61@hotmail.com

Last Modified: November 5, 2019